


that one coffee shop au

by SerpentineJ



Series: days rarepair ficlets [4]
Category: DAYS (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 16:24:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11421708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerpentineJ/pseuds/SerpentineJ
Summary: "Here you go." He smiles, fully, embarrassingly aware that his cheeks are pink. "Enjoy."Usui finishes typing out a sentence and looks up from his screen."Thank you." There's that beautific smile again. Nitobe stops his chest from leaping. "I'm sure I will."





	that one coffee shop au

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: imagine dying

The bell above the cafe door jingles at the same time every day.

"Welcome!" Nitobe says instinctively, head jerking upwards. He knows who he'll see coming through the door- the mysteriously silver-haired man in the comfortable clothes with his warm smile.

"Hello." Usui says. Today he's wearing a cream-colored sweater and dark wash jeans. Nitobe corrals the urge to reach out and feel the sleeve- it looks warm- and lets an answering customer service smile spread across his face.

"What can I get you?" He hopes there's nothing on his face. Usui always looks so composed- by comparison, last week Nitobe had almost spilled coffee on Ooshiba when he had tried to hand him his and Kimishita's drinks. It's a good thing he hadn't, because a complaint by Ooshiba Kiichi leads to major headaches on the part of everyone involved and a probable scolding from the owner.

Usui places his order- white coffee and a pastry, Nitobe's choice- and takes his seat at the corner of the cafe, by the window. The glow of the screen of his macbook barely warms his face, and a more concentrated expressions slips onto his brow as he begins typing.

Nitobe glances across the glass pastry case. Which one would Usui like? The first few times the other man had come in, he had played it safe, given him something fresh but not particularly unique like a croissant or a red bean bun, but something in Usui's reassuringly pleasant demeanor makes him want to branch out a bit, and he hesitates before grabbing a chunky chocolate cookie, bagging it and setting it on the tray with the coffee.

"Here you go." He smiles, fully, embarrassingly aware that his cheeks are pink. "Enjoy."

Usui finishes typing out a sentence and looks up from his screen.

"Thank you." There's that beautific smile again. Nitobe stops his chest from leaping. "I'm sure I will."

He takes the tray. Nitobe returns to behind the counter. He watches Usui from the corner of his eye, even when Inohara and Haibara come in with their girlfriends, evidently on a double date, and Kurusu comes in to relieve Tsukamoto from his baking shift. Usui barely moves, besides the tapping of his fingers against those polished white keys and the occasional shift in expression. Nitobe thinks he could watch him all day, maybe.

He doesn't notice it's gotten dark until Usui stands up, chair scraping against the floor, and stretches his arms. The sky outside the windows is a dark blue, illuminated only by the occasional storefront and the street lamps lining the road. 

"Thank you, come again!" He calls when Usui dumps his trash and packs up, making for the door. Usui turns back and smiles, again, and Nitobe almost regrets everything he's ever done that's led to him working at this particular cafe and scheduling his shifts so he can feel that flood of something rush through him every time Usui smiles. It's ridiculous. He doesn't even really know the man.

~~~~~~

The next week, there's a bit of a disaster.

"Nitobe!" His manager shouts, voice muted by the door between them. Nitobe leaves the register for a moment, because there's no one there anyways, and rushes to the back to see a disheveled Mucchan, flour in his gelled hair, cheeks pink.

"Yeah, boss?" He looks around.

Mucchan almost cards a hand through his hair, but thinks better of it. His hands are covered in dough.

"Help me with this!" He says loudly. Everything Mucchan does is loud. He points Nitobe to the sink to wash his hands before shoving a ball of dough into them.

"Uh." Nitobe replies. "What's happening?"

As it turns out, the daily shipment of baked goods to the corner mart down the street had sold out in record time, so Kimishita had called and asked if they could supply any more today. Mucchan, never one to pass up an opportunity to make money, had agreed.

"Scones!" He exclaims, gesturing. "This is scone dough, Nitobe! Hurry and make some! I've been waiting five years for this bakery to get popular!"

Nitobe sighs.

~~~~~~

The bell jingles at the same time every week.

Usui walks up to the counter. Today he's wearing a dressy blue shirt and another pair of dark wash jeans. He glances around the front of the store.

"Hello?" He calls.

There's a crash. A curse floats through the air.

"Coming!" A muffled voice strains from the back room. Usui blinks, then smiles.

Nitobe bursts through the door to the front in an instant- his hair is mussed, apron covered in flour. There's white streaks on his face that he doesn't seem to have noticed, but he's wringing his freshly-washed hands with an apologetic look on his face.

"Usui-san!" He almost shrieks when he sees the man at the counter. "Is it that time already?!"

Usui can't help but chuckle. He brings his hand up to cover his laughs. Nitobe has a brief thought that it might be the cutest thing he's ever seen, and shakes his head like a waterlogged dog.

"Uh." He calms himself down. "What can I get you?"

Usui smiles.

"White coffee." He says, like he does every week. "And a pastry- surprise me."

When he retreats to his usual table, Nitobe slumps fractionally against the counter, face burning. Why, of all days, of all times, did Mucchan's bake-apocalypse have to happen now? It's almost like the person scripting his life enjoys laughing at his plights. 

He makes the coffee the same way he does every week. When he slips the cardboard sleeve onto the cup, he finds himself with the pen he uses to mark the names onto the drinks in his hand. 

If he wanted, he thinks, he could write his number on the cup. There's no guarantee Usui would see it, but Nitobe has seen enough romcoms to hope it could work out- isn't that how it works? The main character is elated to find the phone number of the cute barista at their regular coffeehouse on their drink?

Then again, if this were a romcom, Nitobe wouldn't have made an utter fool of himself by taking the order of the object of his affections covered in various baking ingredients. He sighs and re-caps the pen.

~~~~~~

Nitobe sets the tray on Usui's table beside his computer.

"Enjoy." He says, like he says every week. Usui looks up and, smiling, thanks him, like he does every week. Nitobe hesitates.

"Um." He blurts. "The pastry this week- it's a raspberry and white chocolate scone I made an hour ago, so it's still fresh. T-tell me what you think, please!" 

Having made his embarrassing display, he shuffles back to the counter. Usui watches him with a peculiar look on his face.

~~~~~~

The next week, the sound of the bell is 2o minutes late. Nitobe jolts upwards. He certainly hasn't been watching the door.

Usui looks nice today. A dress shirt and a tie, and no jeans this time. Maybe he's going on a date later, Nitobe thinks forlornly. Usui is attractive by any measure.

"Welcome!" He pushes that grin on his face again. "What can I get you?"

Usui seems uncharacteristically uneasy. He pulls on the cuff of his shirt. 

"What," he says, "is your favorite drink?"

Nitobe blinks.

"Mine?" He repeats, a bit dumbfounded, before it hits him. Usui is probably looking to branch out and is asking his ever-knowledgeable barista for a reccommendation. "Ah- I like our vanilla mocha, personally. It's a little sweet, though."

Usui nods.

"I'll have one of those." He says. "And a pastry."

Usui takes his seat. He seems a bit off- maybe he really is waiting for a date, Nitobe thinks, feeling his stomach drop. He pours the chocolate syrup into the cup absentmindedly. He wonders what a date with Usui would be like. Nice, probably. Usui seems like the kind of perceptive person who would care about his significant other's feelings. 

Nitobe suddenly has a vision of Usui and an unidentified, dark-haired girl, sitting at his table and laughing at Usui's clever words. He has no right to the little seize of his heart- he barely knows the guy, he's just a regular at his coffeehouse- but there's a sense of longing and jealousy, nonetheless. In Nitobe's mind, Usui's date is very pretty. She has a heart-shaped face and long, shiny hair, and is a perfectly nice person in her own right- a perfect match for Usui.

He's accidentally put in too much chocolate syrup. Coming to his senses, he pours some of it into another cup.

~~~~~~

"Here you go." Nitobe says, like he does every week, setting his tray next to-

Nitobe blinks. Usui hasn't brought his laptop.

Maybe he really, really is waiting for a date. Nitobe almost sighs in heartbreak. There's something about crushes from afar, after all. They never result in anything-

"Enjoy." He says, like he does every week. The only one not following their weekly script is Usui. Nitobe wonders if, when Usui gets a girlfriend, he'll stop coming to the coffeehouse, or if he'll start bringing her here every week. He shakes it off.

"Um-" Usui says. Nitobe turns back to him.

"Oh, was there something else?" He asks, customer-service-pleasant smile back on his face.

Usui has a nervous tic- his index finger taps against the table.

"I was wondering," Usui says, "if you would like to get coffee sometime?"

Nitobe stares, not quite understanding.

"This is a coffeehouse." He says. "I do like having coffee, and working here means I-"

Usui interrupts him. It's slightly rude, but the other man seems flustered, so Nitobe lets it slide.

"No, I mean," Usui explains, "coffee, somewhere else. With me, preferably."

Nitobe blinks.

"With..." He trails off, and it's only now that he realizes Usui is blushing.

"With me." Usui clarifies, looking up at him from his seat.

Nitobe knows his cheeks are very, very pink.

"Uh." He says, a smile- a real one, not a customer service one- spreads across his face. "I'd like that. A lot."

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: hmu , im too lazy to link but u know me, tumblr @ kimishitaatsushi


End file.
